Clarissa Baldwin, CEO of
Dogs Trust
began by calling for a joined up, multi-agency approach to dealing with dog related anti-social behaviour.
She added that as two of the UK’s largest animal welfare charities,
Dogs Trustand
Blue Crosshave a responsibility over the issue of responsible dog ownership.
She highlighted a
Dogs Trustprogramme called
Paws for Progresswhich worked with offenders within the Scottish Probation Service and the University of Stirling to train up rescue dogs ready for rehoming.
Jeremy Browne MP, the Home Office Minister for Crime Prevention thanked both
Dogs Trustand
Blue Crossfor hosting the event at Liberal Democrat conference.
He said in terms of dog and other pet policy, the leading department for animal welfare is Defra, but his interest come from his position in the Home Office.
He added:
“My interest as crime prevention minister is when dogs cause difficulty and attack people. These are the negative aspects of dog ownership, but most dogs owners are responsible and there are millions across the UK.
Browne said dogs were an "intrinsic feature of our national life".
He added that we mustn’t forget the millions of responsible dog owners across the UK and the pleasure these people derive from dog ownership.
He said legislation being introduced in parliament at the moment builds on and amends the Dangerous Dogs Act of 20 years ago.
Previous legislation only affected behaviour of dogs in public spaces, but after the harrowing cases of dogs attacking children in private homes the government has decided to respond. At the moment there is no criminal offence to cover these attacks on private property, but Mr Browne said that most people and the government now think there should be legislation to protect these young people.
He also added that dogs attacking guide dogs will also be reclassified as an "aggravated offence" as in this case, the guide dogs is part of the human and it is fair for it to be protected in the future. The cost and time involved to train a guide dog are two main reasons why there will now be further protection against them getting attacked by other dogs.
The Minister added that the government was trying to de-clutter anti-social behaviour legislation, but also to ask dog owners to pay back for any damage their animals cause. This will include dogs who persistently foul in children’s play areas and might include a fine or asking owners to attend a responsible dog owners course.
Jeremy Browne said he would continue working on these important issues with colleagues in Defra including David Heath MP and Lord de Mauley who specifically leads on this area.
Kim Hamilton, CEO of
Blue Cross
said that the important work they do began when the charity was first established in 1897 and that the first centre opened in 1906. Blue Cross has been operating continuously since then.
She called for much more joint working between local authorities and the police to tackle dog related anti-social behaviour.
Kim Hamilton referred to a specific programme they run on status dogs called
RespectaBULLwhich is aimed at 11 to 25 year olds. It is focussed on working with communities in London, Birmingham and Manchester.